BJP sets target of winning three-fourth seats for NDA in Bihar assembly polls

Patna: Bihar BJP on Saturday set a target to win three-fourth of seats for the NDA in the assembly elections due in October-November.

Stating the target in presence of BJP national general secretary Bhupendra Yadav and others, state party president Sanjay Jaiswal made an appeal to 76 lakh party workers upto Panchayat level to ensure that the coalition achieves the mark.

"We have set a target of winning three-fourth seats for NDA in Bihar. We will ensure that the coalition achieves the mark," Jaiswal said while addressing the two-day state executive committee meeting that started Saturday.

National Democratic Alliance in Bihar comprises of BJP, Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) and Ram Vilas Paswan's LJP.

Bihar has 243-member assembly.

Precautions have been taken for the conduct of the meet in the midst of raging Covid-19 pandemic in the state with only a handful of leaders including Bhupendra Yadav, Jaiswal and state ministers-Nand Kishore Yadav and Prem Kumar- sitting on dais in the state headquarters.

Former Maharashtra chief minister and party's election in-charge for Bihar Devendra Fadnavis joined them virtually.

BJP's national president J P Nadda will give his valedictory speech Sunday.

The caution in organising the event comes in the backdrop of its over two dozen leaders and workers testing positive at the state headquarters in July in course of conducting regional meetings as part of election preparations.

Jaiswal praised both the central and state governments for working together for the victims of floods and coronavirus especially migrant workers, who returned to their home during pandemic from different parts of the country.

He also lauded the party workers for feeding poor and migrant labourers during lockdown apart from distributing essentials such as medicines, masks, besides organising blood donation camp among them.

Abolition of Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir, paving way for construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya through a court verdict, annuling triple talaq for muslim women and providing citizenship to non-muslim minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan were among some of the major decisions of the Narendra Modi government, he underscored.

Assambly elections are due in the state in October- November and the Election Commission has indicated it would go ahead with organising the polls on time notwithstanding concerns expressed by opposition parties and also by NDA partner LJP that it could lead to further spread of the coronavirus disease.

Bihar will be the first state where election would be held amid pandemic that is raging in the state as well in the country.

The BJP meet shows that the saffron party is going ahead with its poll preparation in the politically crucial state that sends 40 MPs to Lok Sabha.

The executive committee of the state was formed on March 20 last, but it could not hold any meeting till date due to Covid-induced lockdown enforced in Bihar on March 22 and subsequent nationwide shutdowns.

Addrressing the meet, Fadnavis exhorted party leaders and workers to take developmental works done by both the central and state governments to the people.

"We need to tell people about various works done by both governments- be it Atmanirbhar economic package, Garib Kalyan Yojana or the work done by the state government- as people forget them easily," Fadnavis said.

He, however, did not touch the issue of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput death case which had triggered a bitter faceoff between his home state Maharashtra and Bihar, and instead kept his speech focused on political issues and elections.

Criticising 15 years of Lalu Prasad-led RJD rule in the state which pushed Bihar 25-30 years back into backwardness, Fadnavis said, "people need to be reminded about the time when the state witnessed rampant corruption and nepotism and was ruined economically."

"The NDA government has brought change in Bihar in past 15 years and put development back on rails and now the state will move faster in next five years and thats why it needs a government which can work in tandem with the Narendra Modi government," said Fadnavis, who began his speech with his reverential salutation "Pranam" to people of Bihar.